


Excuses, Excuses

by NavigationByAtlas



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ADHD Lance, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lance (Voltron) Has ADHD, Lance has adhd struggles and the team just wants to help, Langst, Oops, Projecting, Space fam fluff, based on my struggles, fml man, hardcore projecting, the backstory is literally my life story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-01-30 06:55:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12648435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NavigationByAtlas/pseuds/NavigationByAtlas
Summary: Lance has struggled with ADHD since he was young. Now, his team just wants to help out a little.





	1. Chapter 1

Lance has struggled with _Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder_ , ADHD, since he was young. It had started showing up prominently in the second grade when he couldn’t sit still and had to be moved across the class frequently so he’d stop disturbing the other students. At first, Lance’s misbehavior was categorized as a cry for attention, and while he couldn’t deny that, it wasn’t the whole truth. Then, they thought he was simply bored with the class. What student wasn’t, though? Regardless, they’d had Lance tested, and he was labeled as _highly gifted_ and sent to a special class once a week with other kids that fell under the same label.

Lance couldn’t remember those classes much except for that he’d never felt like he was supposed to be there at all. They’d assigned questions that Lance had never seen before and had no clue how to understand, much less solve. He’d been made to work in groups with the other HG kids, and they’d all seemed leagues above him. Even so, the school thought that his struggles simply meant he was bored there, too.

So, they tested him again. This time, Lance’s score was higher than before. So much so, he was to be moved to an entirely different school. It was the start of the fourth grade by then, barely a month into the first quarter of the school year. Lance had been looking forward to his fourth-grade class. When he’d learned of the switch at dinner that night, he’d cried at the table. His mamá had reprimanded his brother for making fun.

The rest of the fourth grade, all the way through sixth was spent at his new school. He didn’t get much better. Lance still acted out. He still had trouble focusing and controlling himself. He even seemed to forget things far more often than any normal child would. That part was the worst. He’d learned soon enough not to blame his trouble on forgetfulness, lest he is scolded for lying because no kid forgets that much! There’s no way you forgot; I just told you this morning! How do you forget something like that?

It wasn’t until the seventh grade that Lance’s family finally figured it out. His mamá had taken him to a doctor, one like a therapist but different. She’d said Lance had ADHD, a common mental disorder in children. That a small dose of methylphenidate would fix him. That he needed to be fixed. Lance had only been on the medication for a year, but it had helped. At least, Lance thought it had. But, there’d been no change in the struggles he’d had since the second grade. He was still too hyper, he barely passed his classes. He’d been kicked out of the highly gifted program and back into regular schooling, much to his parents’ disappointment. So, Lance was taken off of the medication.

“Clearly, it’s not doing anything,” his papá had said. “Why should you keep taking it?” Lance hadn’t had a good answer for that.

Now, Lance saw the struggles reappearing, worse than he remembered. He forgot things easily, things that mattered to him. Lance had forgotten Hunk’s birthday, whom he’d known for years, and despite Hunk’s insisting that it was okay, Lance wasn’t convinced. He forgot about events he’d had planned, things he’d wanted to do, been excited over, and it was tearing him up inside. _No normal kid forgets this much,_ he thought, and though Lance had long-since accepted that he was far from normal, the idea still ached in his chest.

Lance became frustrated in himself. He felt a self-hatred burrow in his soul and spread throughout his heart. He’d cry over small things he’d forgotten, like an idea he hadn’t jotted down or a chore he’d promised to do. He’d break down over the slight slip-ups he made, as though he wasn’t worthy of mistakes. As though he was undeserving of the luxury of fault. Lance had wanted to be back on medication, so badly. He’d wanted to, but his father had been very clear whenever the subject was so much as ghosted over on his disapproval at the thought. He’d wanted to, but he could never find the right moment to ask his mother. How could he, if there was no reason for it? The meds hadn’t helped before, why would they now?

Then, Lance had been whisked away to another planet; another galaxy. He’d cursed himself for forgetting the fidget toys he’d had to all but beg for to still his restless hands and calm his overactive mind. The situation was in no way under Lance’s own control, but he still faulted himself for the err. Now, what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t go begging his team for help; not for an ailment that had been hammered into his skull as _fake_ or _meaningless_ or _not that bad_. Nevermind that if you looked it up, the word “chronic” appeared in the very first definition; that it didn’t always simply go away with time. Nevermind that it was so common, it had to be real. It was just kids being kids, millennials being entitled, an excuse. God, if Lance had to hear those words one more time, from himself or anyone. _An excuse._

Lance sighed, long and drawn out, and dragged himself out of bed. It had taken him far too long to fall asleep the night before, in spite of how tired he’d been. His brain had refused to quiet itself, and Lance had been restless because of it. Lance groaned and shivered at the cold room without the shelter of his sheets, and readied himself for the day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry ch 2 took so dang long! It took a while to find motivation and, as you may have guessed, I have ADHD and I've had like 3 appointments to figure out meds and management for it this last month or so, so it sorta slipped my mind for a while there. But no worries! I present to you Chapter 2! A bit lighter and a tad more upbeat. For now.

“Lance! Hard left!” Lance jerked his lion to the side at the barked command, narrowly avoiding a hit in time to retaliate. The mini-cruiser makes no sound the vacuum of space. _Why have we been hearing all these explosions if there’s no sound in space?_ Lance wondered. I mean, it was common knowledge that the sound waves wouldn’t carry in the void. There was nothing to carry them. Maybe Blue was projecting the sound into the comms? But why would she do that? What was the point? To help them tune in to their surroundings, so they could predict attacks?

Lance barely had time to swerve to the side, avoiding a shot only to let it hit Keith dead-on, knocking him unstable.

“Crap! Keith!” Lance shouted, unsure of what else to do. Keith regained control of his lion and shot off to another area, away from Lance.

“Just stay focused, alright?” Keith growled. Right. Yeah. Focus. Lance could focus. _How hard could focus be?_ Lance thought, ignoring the answer he already knew in favor of taking out another two small ships. _Focus, focus. I can focus._ Lance repeated the word like a mantra to himself, drowning out the mess of thoughts that seemed ever-present in his mind.

“Lance, cover me!” Hunk shouted over the comms, for no real reason other than the intensity of battle. _I mean, the microphones are right there. By our faces. It picks up on everything._ Lance moved to cover the opening Hunk had left, and held his own easily enough.The two fought back-to-back, seamlessly working together after so many years of familiarity between them. Lance smiled a tad at the thought. Hunk was his closest friend.

Lance was sore by the time Voltron had finished up their mission. The whole team was sore. It was simply occupational hazard by now. With all that rattling around, a paladin was gonna get sore. Lance stretched his aching muscles and sighed at the feeling. It was a good pain; one that meant he’d worked hard. So, without putting any further thought into it, Lance hit the showers and made a beeline for his bed.

Sleep did not come easily. It never did. No matter how tired Lance’s body was, however heavily the day weighed, it was a rarity to fall asleep without a struggle. Lance replayed the day in his mind. From waking, to breakfast, to the mission. The team had missed lunch, which was a shame because Hunk had been so eager to try his latest recipe. Lance had let Keith get hit. He dwelled on that for perhaps a bit longer than necessary. Lance had been lost in thought and let his teammate be hurt.

Lance scowled, glaring at the wall before turning over rather noisily to face the opposite direction. He huffed and flopped around again, finding the most obscure positions comfortable for only a moment before he was back to tossing and turning. Eventually, Lance shot up in bed, angrily wrestling off his clothes until he was left in a pair of drab boxers, blaming the offending clothes’ tugging against the sheets for his discomfort. When he lay back down, Lance found it easier to find and keep comfort. Lance wasn’t sure when he fell asleep.

When Lance woke, he was grateful it was on his own and not by some outside force, lest they find him naked. It wasn’t as though he’d left it all hanging loose, but he’d still feel rather embarrassed if anyone found him in his current state. Lance chuckled a bit at his own silliness.

Briefly, he wondered how he’d always managed to wake up just early enough to pull on a shirt before flopping back to sleep whenever he knew someone was coming to wake him that morning. That thought was gone as soon as it had appeared, however, and replaced with an equally abstract one. Ideas popped into his head faster than Lance had any real control over, and it frustrated him because he knew he’d never remember any of them. He dressed and made his way into the kitchen.

When Lance entered the kitchen, only Hunk and Keith were present.

“Hey, Keith, Hunk,” He greeted casually and pushed himself up so that he sat on the counter. Hunk smiled and returned the greeting cheerfully. Keith only grunted, not looking up from the table. Lance dismissed it, writing off the strange behavior as an after-effect of yesterday’s rough workout. After a light bowl of goo- provided by Hunk, of course, Lance hopped off the counter and padded away to locate the four other ship members. He found Coran first.

“Hey, Coran!” Lance grinned. He really liked Coran. He was friendly and always in need of a helping hand, never failing to make Lance useful.

“Hello, Lance. How are you this quintant?” Lance clasped his hands behind his back.

“Pretty good, today. Are ya busy?” he asked.

“Always, my boy!” Coran chirped. “You know as well. Mind giving me a hand?” Lance only smiled at the Altean man, and the two began their task.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I had the wonderful idea of putting all of my stress and mentality over my ADHD onto Lance because why the fuck not? The first chapter is kinda drab, as it's just my background with Lance's name slapped onto it, but hey, I never promised quality. Just angst. So, bear with me because it will become more Voltron oriented as we go on! Thanks!


End file.
